Do 217 from Aufklärungsstaffel 4.(F)/Nacht - 25.02.1945 - MIA

[samgamgee]

Hello everyone.
I am new to the forum and please be patient.

I'm close to finding the remains of an airplane Do 217 M-1 from Aufklärungsstaffel 4.(F)/Nacht. The plane did not return from a combat mission on the day 25 february 1945.
pilot – Ofw. Werner Jauß (MIA),
observer –Oblt. Alfred Voll (MIA),
radio operator – Fw. Fritz Vogeln (MIA),
flight engineer – Uffz. Hans Geib (MIA)

I am interested in all the details of this flight. Any information about the crew?
Thank you in advance for any help

[Rottler]

Hello samgamgee,

in the Gen.Qu. loss report from March 3, 1945 neither details of the flight nor cause and place of the crash are called.
Apart from the missing crew and the unit is noticed: Do 217 M-1 WNr. 326340.

Regards
Leo

[samgamgee]

Thank you Leo.
I wonder if it is possible to reach the unit's combat log? Can there still be any other documents? And some literature on this subject.

[Laurent Rizzotti]

I can find two of your crew easily on the Volksbund database: Ofw Werner Walter Jauss and Uffz Hans Geib are both listed as being killed on 25 February 1945 at Zobten, Breslau area (apparently now Sobotka, Poland).

The two other men may be the two following cases I found on Volksbund:
1) Feldwebelleutnant Albrecht Voll killed on 25 February 1945 in Zobten. This rank is unknown to me, but it could your "Oblt Alfred Voll".
2) Fw Friedrich Franz Vogl killed on 25 February 1945 in Zobten. This could be your "Fw. Fritz Vogeln"

From a quick Google search, Zobten was on the frontline during the Breslau siege by Soviet forces, at least from 24 February to April if not May.

So the crash might have been on both Soviet and German held area. From the Volksbund entries, it seems that all four men above are listed as KIA rather than MIA, so were found and buried, even if their graves are now lost. This could indicate that the crash occured on German held ground.

PS: according to a map I found, on 6 May 1945, Zobten was on the frontline of the external ring of Soviet forces surrounding Breslau (ie not facing the city but the German front) and was in Soviet hands in the morning but was retaken by the Germans in one of the last big-scale (several divisions) German counter-attacks of the war.

[samgamgee]

Thank you Laurent !!!
From the conclusion that the plane of which the remains were found was not Werner Jauss.

My plane was shot down on February 25 in Szprotawa (Sprottau). There was a Soviet airport. In the Soviet documents it is mentioned that at night Do 217 bombed the airport and was shot down. Due to date compatibility, I thought it was Jaussa's plane.

I was wrong. Sobótka (Zobten) is located 100km from Szprotawa (Sprottau). It's hard. Once again thank you very much for your help. Leo too.

PS. Then, on February 25, two planes Do 217 were shot down? The question is whether the other was also from Aufklärungsstaffel 4.(F)/Nacht?

[Chris Goss]

I would be very surprised if this unit's war diary still exists especially as this ac was lost so close to the end of the war

[samgamgee]

I will ask otherwise, because I am very much interested in identifying the plane that I found the rat.
Is it possible to determine the loss of aircraft Do 217 M-1 in the months III-IV 1945?
On the eastern front, in the area of fighting in Lower Silesia, the only unit that had such aircraft was the Aufklärungsstaffel 4.(F)/Nacht. By 9 February 1945, they were stationed at Sprottau Airport. So the plane at night bombarded its former base.

I will add that the area of the catastrophe from mid-February was already in the hands of the Soviets. According to the stories of the local population, next to the wreckage of the plane there were 2 graves with German helmets. Probably two aviators died during an emergency landing. Then the bodies were exhumed. The plane was in good shape. Then he was dismantled by the local people in 1946 and sold to the steelworks.
Is it possible to fix a crew?

[Rottler]

Hi samgamgee,

in the Gen.Qu. loss reports of 1945 following losses of the Nachtaufklärungsstaffeln are listed:
15.2.45 4.(F)/Nacht Do 217 M-1 6206 100% crashplace unknown 4 missing
25.2.45 4.(F)/Nacht Do 217 M-1 326340 100% crashplace Zobten (according to Laurant Rizzotti) 4 dead
04.3.45 2.(F)/Nacht Do 217 M-1 326209 65% bellylanding Oranienburg
09.3.45 2.(F)/Nacht Do 217 M-1 336221 100% Niederwerder 1 dead, 4 injured
19.3.45 2.(F)/Nacht Do 217 M-1 326421 20% landing accident Neuruppin
27.3.45 2.(F)/Nacht Ju 188 D-1 230126 25% crashlanding Neuruppin.

In the JaPo-book "Luftwaffe Over Czech Territory 1945" are mentioned:
11.4.45 4.(F)/Nacht Do 217 M-1 6331 100% PlQu 4272, 4363.
16.4.45 the USAAF bombed the airfield Prag-Kbely, destroying 5 planes of 4.(F)/Nacht:
Do 217 M-1 561168
Do 217 M-1 326406
Do 217 M-1 723024
Do 217 M-1 326475
Ju 188 D-2 230427.

Regards
Leo

[samgamgee]

Huge thank you Leo !!!
You have done a hard job for which I am very grateful to you !!!

According to the information provided by the exclusion that only one aircraft is involved:

15.2.45 4. (F) / Nacht Up to 217 M-1 6206 100% crashplace unknown 4 missing

There is only one doubt. 15.2.45 The Soviets were still 10 km east of the crash site, so the plane would still be in German territory and the fate of the crew would have been known. But it's only 10 km and maybe a little less. The area is dense forests of Lower Silesian Forests, 1.650 km2 ! It was night.

Leo is known to the crew?

Regards
Jarosław

[Rottler]

Hello Jarosław,

the crew is listed in the Gen.Qu. loss report from March 1, 1945 No. 45 and a completion from March 8, 1945 cipher v:
F/Pilot Ofw Alfred Lorch
B/Observer Oblt Josef Blininski
Bf/Radio Operator Ofw Julius Buichl
Bs/Gunner Gefr Alfred Tischler.

Regards
Leo